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Irish Insolvents
(1835)Insolvency notices for Ireland: insolvency often caused people to restart their lives elsewhere, so these are an important source for lost links, especially for emigrants

FLANAGHAN. Cost: £6.00.

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British merchant seamen
(1835-1836)At this period, the foreign trade of ships plying to and from the British isles involved about 150,000 men on 15,000 ships; and the coasting trade about a quarter as many more. A large proportion of the seamen on these ships were British subjects, and so liable to be pressed for service in the Royal Navy; but there was no general register by which to identify them, so in 1835 parliament passed a Merchant Seamen's Registration Bill. Under this act this large register of British seamen was compiled, based on ships' crew lists gathered in British and Irish ports, and passed up to the registry in London. Each seaman was assigned a number, and the names were arranged in the register by first two letters of the surname (our sample scan shows one of the pages for 'Sm'); in addition, an attempt was made to separate out namesakes by giving the first instance of a name (a), the second (b), and so on. But no effective method was devised to prevent the same man being registered twice as he appeared in a second crew list; moreover, the original crew lists were clearly difficult for the registry clerks to copy, and some of the surname spellings appear to be corrupted. A parliamentary committee decided that the system devised did not answer the original problem, and this register was abandoned after less than two years: but it is an apparently comprehensive source for British merchant seamen in 1835 to 1836. The register records the number assigned to each man; his name; age; birthplace; quality (master, captain, mate, 2nd mate, mariner, seaman, fisherman, cook, carpenter, boy &c.); and the name and home port of his ship, with the date of the crew list (usually at the end of a voyage). Most of the men recorded were born in the British Isles, but not all (for instance, Charleston and Stockholm appear in the sample scan). The final column 'How disposed of' is rarely used, and indicates those instances where a man died, was discharged, or deserted his ship during the voyage.

FLANAGHAN. Cost: £8.00.

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Insolvents in England and Wales
(1850)Perry's Bankrupt and Insolvent Gazette, issued monthly, included lists of insolvencies and stages in the process whereby the insolvents petitioned for release from debtors' prison. The insolvent is generally referred to by name (surname first), address and trade. This is the index to the names of the insolvents, from the issues from January to December 1850.

FLANAGHAN. Cost: £6.00.

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British infantry fighting in China
(1860)The China Medal was awarded to soldiers and sailors who took part in the prosecution of the war against the Chinese from 1856 to 1860. Separate clasps were awarded for men who had been in receipt of the China Medal of 1842; for being actually present at Canton on 28 and 29 December 1857, when that city was bombarded and finally captured; for being actually engaged in the operations which ceased with the first capture of the Taku Forts, 20 May 1858, and led to the Treaty of Tientsin; for being actually present at the capture of the Taku Forts 21 August 1860; and for being actually present before Pekin the day the gate of that city was given up to the allied (British and French) army, viz. on 13 October 1860. The 1st battalion, the 2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot, based at Walmer, embarked for the Cape of Good Hope 24 June 1851. The battalion took part in the capture of the Taku Forts and in that of Pekin.

FLANAGHAN. Cost: £8.00.

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Civil Service Appointments
(1862)The Civil Service Commission published an annual list of all persons who had obtained certificates of qualification for appointment in the various public departments. The list gives full name (surname first); department (such as Post Office, or Inland Revenue); situation (such as Letter-carrier, or Clerk); and date of certificate. Candidates whose names are preceded by a dagger obtained appointments as the result of competition; a double dagger indicates open competition. Those whose names are preceded by an asterisk obtained honorary additions to their certificates either for proficiency in extra subjects chosen by themselves, or for marked proficiency in the prescribed subjects. Then follows a further list of these candidates who had obtained Honorary Additions to their Certificates in this way: giving name (surname and initials); position in the service (department and situation); subjects for which honorary additions were made; and 'extent of knowledge displayed' (such as Creditable, Fair, or Very Creditable). 1 January to 31 December 1862.

FLANAGHAN. Cost: £4.00.

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English Pupil Teachers training to become Schoolmistresses
(1878)The Education Department set examinations for candidates for admission into training colleges, and to become teachers. This is the class list (in order of merit) of the pupil teachers who passed that examination at Christmas 1878. The list gives the candidate's name (surname first) (prefixed by an asterisk where she was examined on second-year papers), and the school in which engaged (N. for National School, Ch. Church of England, B. British School, W. Wesleyan, R. Roman Catholic, P. Parochial, Bd. Board School, Indl. Industrial School). (The sample scan is from the list for Scottish schoolmistresses)

FLANAGHAN. Cost: £6.00.

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Men of the 3rd Regiment of Foot (East Kent - the Buffs) fighting in South Africa
(1877-1879)What is commonly called the Zulu War Medal was awarded to those British soldiers who fought in a series of conflicts in southern Africa from 1877 (the Kaffir War) through to 1879 (the Zulu War). In 1880 the various units submitted returns of the officers, non-commissioned officers and men 'entitled to the Medal for Military Operations in South Africa during 1877-8-9' and these 'medal rolls' are now in the National Archives. The returns are made with the information arranged in twelve columns:
1. Rank and name
2. Regimental number and rank at the time the medal was earned
3. Whether in possession of medal for previous wars
4. Whether engaged against the Gaikas, Galekas and other Kaffir tribes 1877-8
5. Whether engaged against Pokwane 1878
6. Whether engaged against the Griquas 1878
7. Whether engaged against the Zulus 1879
8. Whether engaged against Sekukuni as set forth in Par. 2. G. O.
9. Whether engaged against Moirosi's stronghold
10. Entitled to medal without clasp under Par. 4.
11. Serving with regiment, depot, dead, discharged, deserted, &c.
12. Notes and cross-references to the Adjutant-General's medal lists.
WO 100/46.

FLANAGHAN. Cost: £8.00.

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Debtors, Insolvents and Bankrupts
(1880)Bills of sale (binding assets to a creditor/lender), insolvencies and bankruptcies in England and Wales, January to March 1880

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Irish Debtors and Bankrupts
(1887)Bills of sale (binding assets to a creditor/lender), and bankruptcies in Ireland, July to September 1887. Includes some dissolutions of partnerships.

FLANAGHAN. Cost: £6.00.

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Queen's South Africa Medal: Royal Field Artillery: 38th Battery
(1901-1905)The nominal roll for the Queen Victoria's South Africa Medal - awarded (after her death, in the event) to all who had served honourably in the various campaigns in the Boer War - was compiled from these returns from the individual units. Two sets of form were completed. The main one, as in the sample scan, dates from 1901 and gives regimental number, rank, and full name (surname first), followed by a series of columns relating to different actions - Belmont, Modder River, Paardeberg, Dreifontein, Wepener, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Belfast, Wittebergen, Defence of Kimberley, Relief of Kimberley, Defence of Mafeking, Relief of Mafeking, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Rhodesia, Talana, Elandslaagte, Tugela Heights, Defence of Ladysmith, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing's Nek, and Natal; each entitled the man to a separate clasp to the medal, and a tick or a Yes in the appropriate column indicates the man's actual physical presence in that battle. A final column for remarks is important in those cases where the man was no longer in the unit, by removal, death or desertion. The second form that sometimes occurs was returned in 1905, and covers men entitled to the Second South African War Medal and Clasps. It lists men by number, rank and name, checks whether they had claimed the Queen's South Africa Medal, and then enquires as to their suitability as to three Colony Clasps, which could be awarded for service in the Cape, Orange Free, or Transvaal; whether entitled to Date Clasps (South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902); whether also entitled to the King's South Africa Medal; any other corps in which served in South Africa; and remarks (such as becoming non-effective, forfeiture, &c.) WO 100/141